This invention relates to a method and apparatus for adaptably interfacing a transducer to a communication network.
Industrial control systems and process control systems, and the like, include various transducers elements such as sensors and actuators. The transducer elements may be connected to local control equipment proximate the transducer element for providing an operator interface. Alternatively, such control equipment may be located within the same plant, but not immediately proximate the transducer element. Under either scenario, individual wiring is provided to connect the transducer element to the control equipment.
There exists a desire for better, real time information of industrial processes such as for preventive maintenance in manufacturing facilities. Advantageously, the information is available remotely to a user, such as over a communication network. One example of how such connections can be made is the smart transducer functional specification specified in IEEE Standard 1451.2/1997. This standard provides a skeletal framework of how to interface sensors and transducers to networks using microprocessors. The specification defines a smart transducer interface module to be integrated into the transducer element during its manufacture.